DANBURY -- Tom Ciccarone first picked up a foil in the late 1970s as a way to get into shape while he operated a restaurant.

Today, Ciccarone operates one of the most successful fencing centers in the region, consistently producing students who have excelled in the sport and rose to the ranks of national champion.

"My wife wanted me to get into shape so she signed me up for a fencing class at the local YMCA," said Ciccarone, the founder of Candlewood Fencing Center on White Street. "Once they put a foil into my hands it was all over. I decided to retire so I can go into the fencing business full time and work 70 hours a week."

After spending several years teaching adult education classes at a variety of locations in the area, Ciccarone, who was tired of lugging his equipment from one location to the other, opened the center in 1987. Since then about 23 students from the center have gone on to win the national championship and hundreds more have won medals in a variety of both national and international competitions.

"It's really a top notch facility," said Marilyn Davidson, a Redding resident whose twin 13-year-old daughters both take fencing classes at the center.

Davidson said her children became interested in fencing after watching the sport in the Olympics.

"I like that it's an intellectual sport but it also involves a lot of physical activity and cardiovascular exercise," Davidson said. "I've noticed a lot of positive changes in my daughters both physically and mentally since they've started in the sport."

Ciccarone offers classes for just about any age and skill level, from an upcoming summer clinic that can take children as young as 8 to seniors' programs that have students 70 or older.

"In terms of the facility itself we are probably among one of the top 20 centers in the country," Ciccarone said.

Many of the students from the center go on to fence at some of the most premier universities in the country, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, West Point, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Brown and New York University.

"If a student is serious about the sport and wants to take private lessons with us, they also have to get good grades," Ciccarone said. "Our goal is to get them into a top-tier college."

Chris Aher, a retired fencer from Brookfield who still coaches his wife, Bonnie Aher, said the center has been producing national level competitors since it first opened its doors.

"A lot of it has to do with the quality coaches they've been able to attract over the years," he said. "To make a fencing center economically viable is a huge task. But it's something that Tom has been able to develop right in our own back yard."